Senate lawmakers failed to vote on a measure protecting children from sexual content in libraries before the midnight deadline on Wednesday.
House Bill 3225, authored by State Rep. Daniel Alders (R–Tyler) and sponsored by State Sen. Bryan Hughes (R–Mineola) in the Senate, would have restricted the access of sexually explicit material in sections of a municipal public library that are designated for children.
The measure would have also required that methods of age verification be utilized by municipal public libraries to ensure that children were not checking out sexually explicit material without parental knowledge and consent.
HB 3225 defines “sexually explicit material” as “any communication, language, or material, including a written description, illustration, photographic image, video image, or audio file, that describes, depicts, or portrays sexual conduct in an explicit manner.”
On the edge of the Wednesday midnight deadline to pass House legislation, the Senate called a recess, citing technical difficulties.
“The Texas Senate has been in recess for hours due to ‘technical issues,’” wrote Christin Bentley, a Texas State Republican Committeewoman, on X Wednesday evening.
“Meanwhile, HB 3225—a [TexasGOP] priority bill to keep sexually explicit content out of kids’ sections in public libraries—must pass TONIGHT,” she continued. “Texas children can’t wait 2 more years.”
“Finish the job.”
The legislation would have required public libraries to evaluate the materials within the children’s collection yearly to check for compliance with guidelines laid out by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
TSLAC’s guidelines for public libraries include an annual evaluation of materials in the children’s section, documentation of that evaluation, and a process for reviewing materials that draw concerns from the public.
To have been eligible for state grants, libraries would have had to provide documentation showing compliance with TSLAC guidelines.
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